Improved lamp-cleaner



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT VHITE, OF KINGSTO, CANADA VEST, ASSIGNOR TO FURNALDS 8v CLARK, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED LAMP-CLEANER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,310, dated October 3, 1865.

T0 all whom t may con/3cm:

Be it known that I, ROBERT WHITE, of Kingston, Province of Canada Vest, have invented a new and useful Device for Gleaning Lamp-Chimneys; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in ivhich- Figure lis an external view of my invention, with the cover removed in order to show the expanding frame. Fig. 2 is an external view of the same, with the cover placed on the frame, all being ready for use. v

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

My invention relates to an improvement on an improvement for cleaning lamp-chimneys, patented by T. B. De Forrest, January 15,1861, and it consists in the formation of an eye in each end of the ribs which constitute the expanding frame, through which eyes is run a wire, which is secured around the slide at the one end of the ribs and around the handle at the other, the said eye enabling the ribs to turn down instead of bending at the points of connection with the handle, which renders the ribs less liable to break or get loose at or near the said points of connection than if they were rigidly secured t0 the slide and handle at those points.

It also consists in the employment or use of a sliding rod or thumbpiece connected to the lower end ot' the slide and following the handle to a distance easily reached by the thumb, which rod when pushed forward causes the ribs to bulge out or expand laterally, and its use enables the ribs oi' the expanding frame to be placed nearer the end of the handle and to be made shorter, which of course gives a Inore spherical form to the expanding frame; and this is found more effective and more easily operated in the chimney, and it cleans it more thoroughly in all parts than with it otherwise.

A represents a rod or holder, which may be of' metal or wood. Thelatter material will probably be most generally used. This rod or holder may be turned in a lathe or other suitable machine, and at one one end of it there are attached bya wire, a., elastic metal strips b. Steel properly tempered would be the preferable material. The strips b are attached at their opposite ends by a wire, c, to a tubular slide, B, which is fitted on the rod or holder.

To the tubular slide B there is connected a rod, @which passes through a guide, d, on the rod or handle, and is bent or curved at its inner or lower end to form a button, D, for the thumb to bear or press against.

The strips b have a tendency to retain a col` lapsed statethat is to say, remain in quite close proximity to the rod or holder A, and they may be expanded at any time, so as to assume a more or less spherical form, by pressing the thumb of the hand which grasps the rod or handle A against the button D in the direction indicated by the arrow. These strips b form an elastic frame, which is encompassed by a cover, E, constructed of Canton tlannel, bnclrskin, or any other suitable material, said cover having a string, e, at its open end, by which it may be secured to the rod or handle. (See Fig. 2.)

The frame, with the cover upon it,is inserted in the chimney to be cleaned, and the frame and cover are expanded byactuating the rod C so that the cover will be brought in contact with the inner surface of the chimney, all parts of the latter being acted Iupon by turning either the implement or chimney. The cover E serves as a wiper or cleaner, while the strips b, which will be more or less prominent, serve as scrapers to dislodge the dirt or smoke which may adhere to the chimney.

The elasticity of the strips b, besides being expanded and contracted under the movement ot' the slide B, admits of the cover E conforming in a measure to the varying form and diameter of the interior of the chimney.

The device is extremely simple and efcient, and may be made at a trilling cost.

The strips b may be of iiat, cylindrical, or other form.

I do not claim any feature shown or claimed by which they are hinged at their upper ends in the patent of T; B. De Forrest, issued Janpermanently to Jche handle A and at; their nary l5, 1861; but lower ends to the slide B, all as herein specil claim as new und desire to secure by Leted. ters Patent- ROBERT WHITE.

The combination of the thumb-piece D, tu- Witnesses: bular slide B, and elastic ribs b b b, the latter H. A. HARVEY, being formed at each end with eyes or loops, WM. W. CLARK. 

